Maharashtra minister tells BJP workers to woo voters with gifts, house visits; NCP, Congress slam act

Mumbai: Senior BJP leader and Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil has advised the party workers to visit houses of voters and give them gifts in order to increase contact with them, drawing flak from the Opposition. The revenue minister was addressing BJP workers in Sangli in western Maharashtra on Friday. Election to Sangli Miraj Kupwad Municipal Corporation is due be held in four months. [caption id=“attachment_4126359” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Maharashtra revenue minister Chandrakant Patil. Twitter@ChDadaPatil[/caption] “Booths have been formed. In the next 15 days, party workers should go to the houses of at least 200 people to increase contact with them. Party workers should meet the voters and give gifts to them,” Patil, who is considered number two in the Devendra Fadnavis Cabinet, said. Latching onto the minister’s remarks, the Opposition slammed the ruling dispensation, accusing it of using wrong ways to woo voters. Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council Dhananjay Munde claimed that in a way Patil had accepted that the BJP, in the past three years, won elections through money power. “The BJP-Shiv Sena government is corrupt. They have used their ill-gotten money to win elections in the last three years. Chandrakant Patil’s comments are nothing but an acceptance of the government’s corruption,” the NCP leader alleged. Munde said it was “shameful” that the BJP minister openly supported bribing people and demanded an inquiry into the funds received by the saffron party. Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Sachin Sawant alleged that Patil’s comments had made a “mockery” of democracy and revealed the “true face” of the BJP. “Such incidents (of bribing) are bound to increase in the coming days as the popularity of the party decreases among people. His comments are condemnable,” Sawant said.